Zeke Pike is very personable. In that respect he's a lot like Ryan Mallett. People might take that to be a negative in some respects but don't; the kid's very personable, a very gregarious young man and he has that charisma you want to see a quarterback have. And you'll find out some things that Michigan really has going for it in the interviews we will have posted on GoBlueWolverine later today. Very clear Michigan is in a good position with him and very, very clear there may be some positive things on the horizon with him.

I'm not a subscriber, but Scout has this in it's title and tease for the interview:

In part one of GoBlueWolverine's sit-down with the talented signal caller he discusses his game, his relationship with the Michigan coaching staff, the top schools on his list, where Michigan fits into that group, and more.

Sam continues to talk about several of the other players in Ohio and then he ends his Round Up with this message when asked if we are close with any of the players he visited:

Michigan is very close with a couple of young men that we stopped through to see on this visit. A couple of young men that we will have video interviews with up today. That's not a promise that they will commit, but pay close attention to the guys that we put up.

The three interviews they posted that day from their trip were with LB Joe Bolden, QB Zeke Pike, and S Allen Gant.

I have a scout membership and have watched the videos, I know im not supposed to give out any premium info but lets just say Pike will be making some more visits this Spring and should make decision in near future. Were in good standing with all the prospects, but anything can happen.

Ha I know right, I said that because a few people on this board bombarded me when I talked about info from a premium site. All the info usually contains is what Tom or you produce. Worst money I've ever spent.

Bolden and Pike are both good players, but I just don't think Gant is very good. He's a legacy kid AND visited Michigan recently . . . and he still doesn't have an offer. That ought to tell us something.

Nah, just because Gant hasn't been offered doesn't mean that Gant isn't extremely interested in playing for Michigan. Gant is probably interested, but I don't know if that level of interest is reciprocated.

I was really just playing the part of Crazy Optimist Fan Person and reading too deeply into the OP. I don't consider anyone a member of Michigan's class until LOIs are in, but it's still fun to rub your hands together and speculate wildly. I mean, "close" has to mean close to committing, right? And you can't commit without an offer (unless you're Kevin Hart), right?

We need to seriously consider that DG might not play four years here. If he's half of what people said he'd be out of high school he could be a legitimate candidate for an early round pick after his redshirt (please? please?) sophomore season.

This is an extremely valid point. Big-name universities generally have multiple highly-touted recruits on the roster at once (if they take one per year, which seems to be the general belief). Kids like Pike generally come in expecting to compete and planning to work hard enough to start. It'd be no different at Michigan, and hey, if Pike thinks he's better than DG and Bellomy, who are we to argue otherwise?

USC had 2 big time recruits at QB this year and Florida has taken 2 in the same class before. I am sure kids want to start as Freshman but playing where you fit in best might trump an extra year as a starter.

I know that everyone loves DG, but why is everyone already penciling him in as a starter for his last two years. If all goes as planned, that might happen, but if Pike or any other younger player pushes him, I'm sure the coaching staff would reward him. I could see some split time as well (though I'm not sure what message that sends, I'm not a fan of splitting time). Just saying, we shouldn't assume that DG will start for both years after Denard graduates, especially if there is a great prospect providing competition for him. All Hoke has done since he arrived here is preach the need for more competition to help these young men get better.

I really want Pike to commit. I think he's the real deal. To use the proverbial sports cliche, he has so many tools in his tool belt.

The stories I read on DG was the winter semester he enrolled he busted his ass so much harder than either Robinson or Tate that he made them look lazy to the team. Robinson got the message the message that summer and stepped his game up, Tate didn't and that's where the T-Wolf quote comes from. I as comfortable saying Gardner will start his last 2 years as I would've been saying it for Drew Henson.

He was recruited to come run an entirely different offense than the one we will have by the time it is his turn, one that puts a premium on different skill sets than he had to run either in HS or last year. I'm not saying he can't at all, just that the confidence level would justifiably be far higher for him taking over the spread from Denard than it should be IMO taking over a prostyle offense from Denard--and that offense, once Denard is gone, won't even resemble what we run this year. I like DG's chances because of the "want to" that everyone says he has, but it is far from a sure thing to me.

Don't forget that he's also 6'4 ~215 with a cannon. I'd guarentee that the staff is working their asses off getting his mechanics in order, and once that happens I would bet that you'll see him on Sunday's in a few years.

I actually think Gardner is better suited to a pro style offense than the spread. He's a good runner, but not a dynamic one (in my opinion) like Vince Young or Denard Robinson. You can obviously put the ball in Denard's hands, tell him to run it, and he's going to make a couple big plays a game (as long as he doesn't get hurt). I don't think you could do the same thing with Gardner.

Both Denard and Devin have kinks in their mechanics that need to be fixed, but the ceiling is just as high for Gardner as it ever was.

williams college is a college because it is only a liberal arts college, kinda like LSA. And as for Dartmouth (also another reason for williams) they keep the college in their name because of historical reasons (people won't identify as much with the school if they changed to university of dartmouth or so)

I would be ecstatic if we could get Pike to commit, and the earlier the better. Not only do I think he's the best quarterback we're targeting, but as others have said it would undoubtedly provide a boost in recruiting. I don't think that boost would be exclusive to other offensive skill positions either, though obviously WRs, TEs, and even RBs would think twice if offered a chance to play with one of the top QBs in the class. I feel like there's something about recruiting 5* players that naturally draws in other high-level talent. Kids say "oh hey, Zeke Pike is stellar, and he likes UM... maybe I should see what that's all about". If we can grab a really high-profile recruit fairly on, I definitely think we'll reap the benefits in the form of increased interest. That's just my opinion though, obviously.

I read somewhere, an it might have been simply speculation, that Pike was talking to Green-Beckham about going to Michigan. If you're only taking 1 WR and 1 QB I can't think of many better combos I'd like.

I'll be honest I love the potential of having another QB that wants to lure a mega class much like Drew Henson did back in 1998 when he got Walker, Fargas and Terrel to show up (I mean who reasonably wouldn't like that?).